Consumers increasingly use third-party services to store data. Third-party storage services may provide a number of benefits to customers, including flexibility, low capitalization requirements, add-on services, and centralized access to data. As online data storage increases, individuals are building ever greater personal “digital estates.” These digital estates may include a variety of important digital assets ranging from key legal and financial electronic documents to creative works to representations of cherished memories. Furthermore, as the paperless trend continues, personal digital estates may become the primary or only source for certain records.
To improve privacy and individual control over data, third-party storage customers and/or third-party storage services may encrypt stored data. Individual third-party storage customers may enjoy exclusive access to their data by means of an authentication token, such as a password. However, the perfection of individual control over data may clash with the realities of social life. Family members share common legal, financial, and personal interests and obligations. Traditionally, family members with common access to a physical space (e.g., a filing cabinet) shared common access to important information. However, when a family member controls important electronic information in a personal digital account, the important electronic information can suddenly disappear with the family member (e.g., upon death).
Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies and addresses a need for additional and improved systems and methods for providing kinship-based accessibility to securely stored data.